Claugh Klom
Claugh Klom is a rear admiral for the king of Roland and an important member of the nation's military forces and royal council. Overview A young man in his early twenties with spiky crimson hair and eyes, Claugh Klom is a senior statesman of Roland who is also known as “Claugh of the Crimson Finger (紅指のクラウ),” a title he gained as his bare right hand is always stained with the enemies' blood on the battlefield. He was instrumental in helping Sion succeed in the revolution to overthrow the previous tyrant, Sion's father, and today he holds the position of Field Marshal of Roland's army. Claugh is also the right-hand man of Sion Astal. Personality Despite the fact that he is not in complete agreement on many of the tough decisions that Sion had to make out of necessity, he remains absolutely loyal to Sion. Claugh dislikes putting himself in a safe place while others are fighting, and prefers to use his muscles to handle the military side of the country, than to use his head to work out the intricacies of politics, policies, among other stuff. Because of this he is often envious of Miller for being able to reject promotions, and of Luke for being able to go on stealth missions. Aside from his battle prowess, Claugh was described by Miran Froaude as a highly charismatic person, is well liked by both the populace and his men, and this was an essential quality to head the army during tough times. Involvement in Plot There are three things that Claugh hated in his life: Roland's former tyrannical king and his nobles, Miran Froaude, which improved ever so slightly over time, and the worst of them all Tiia Rumiblue(ティーア・ルミブル, Tīa Rumiburu), the bearer of Cursed Eyes “Īno Dwōe (殲滅眼, イーノ・ドゥーエ, Īno Dwōe).” He mistook Tiia's eyes to be Alpha Stigma, since Alpha Stigma is much more common than other Cursed Eyes and the general awareness of the existence of other Cursed Eyes is much less, and saw him as a monster. Later, he fought a battle with Tiir and was overwhelmed easily despite his power, losing his right arm in the process. Magic and Abilities When he was a child, part of his right arm was bitten off by Tiia, and in order to maintain the functionality of his arm, he was tattooed with a red magical inscription on his arm. This inscription when invoked, gives Claugh the power to almost instantaneously slice anything into fine pieces with his right hand, including human beings. In order to exact revenge on Tiia, Claugh uses a forbidden curse under Sion's order to attain an artificial jet-black arm, and became known as “The Death God with a Black Hand (黒手の死神, Kurote no Shinigami).” Relationships Noa Ehn While suppressing the rebellion from the vassal country of Estabul, Claugh saves the former princess of Estabul Noa Ehn from death during Froaude's extermination exercise on Estabul's nobles. Noa is brought back to Roland and given the life of a Roland noble under Sion's care. Claugh later saves her again from a group of masked men who attempt to assault her in her house in Roland. He is at first oblivious to her feelings for him, but later realizes not only that she is in love with him but also his own love for her. Later, they develop a romantic relationship with each other and they have 4 children, somewhat to Calne Kaiwal's amusement as Claugh continues to deny his feelings for Noa throughout the anime. Background Based on OKYD’s Vol. 1 Chapter 2 “Red Steel”, Claugh was five years old when his mother was killed by bandits. She had been born into poverty, sold by her parents on her seventeenth birthday and placed in a prison where she was confined for several days, filled with drugs, and then forced to produce a child. After she escaped with Claugh, she took drugs to keep calm; when she didn’t take the drugs, she beat Claugh mercilessly. She always told Claugh that he was a “special child”. Driven mad by the experiment, with her dying breath she instructed Claugh to get revenge on the man who had done this to her. Determined, Claugh allows the soldiers (who have killed the bandits who had annihilated the village) to take him with them. He was brought before Count Emirel who had established the Emirel Private Forces. Realizing he must be the one behind the experiment, Claugh prepares to kill him. However, he realizes that he’s not yet strong enough. Therefore, he plays the part of an innocent child promising to work hard to please the count. A thirteen year old Rei Stokkart takes him to her lab where 106 children had also been gathered. During the experiment, Claugh is saved by a young Luke Stokkart. He explains that he and Rei are not siblings—they are just from the same experiment that’s why they share the same last name. Luke tells Claugh he’ll help him because he has assessed that he’s the strongest in the group. Claugh agrees, smiling for the first time. Their story continues in OKYD’s Vol. 2 Chapter 1. Although Claugh’s left shoulder has been badly burned by the Homura spell, they defeat the raven and survive. However, Claugh realizes something is amiss. Luke tells him he had planned to kill all the witnesses (the children) and escape himself. Claugh asks him to include him in the group too, but Luke refuses apologetically preparing to kill him. Nevertheless, Claugh tricks Luke because he had prepared a plan in advance—the defeated fire raven is reborn. Luke, shocked, knows that if Claugh doesn’t absorb it, they’ll both be killed. He yells that 3000 people had already been sacrificed for this experiment, but Claugh is confident that he’ll succeed, and he does. Luke comprehends that Claugh’s body has a high resistance to curses; if he stays here, they will continue to experiment on him, and he’ll definitely die. Luke also adds that Claugh has a better chance for killing Count Emirel and getting revenge. Nonetheless, Claugh tells him he’ll stay and get stronger. Claugh informs Luke that he knows that his pure white hair is an aftereffect of the worst kind of experiment—a magic circle was buried into his brain, making him incredibly smart. Luke can’t believe that Claugh knew about him. They decide to hold a competition to see who will get strong enough to kill Count Emirel first. Once they’ve decided this, Luke escapes. As the sole survivor, Claugh becomes Rei’s student and has all kinds of knowledge beaten into him. At fifteen, he is the 8th top graduate of the Emirel Private Forces. Because of him, Count Emirel gained a lot of power as well. The count rewards Claugh by giving him a high position in the military where he becomes known as ‘Crimson Fingered Claugh Klom’. Claugh still doesn’t kill Emirel because he wants to keep using him as long as possible. Luke and Claugh are reunited when they are both seventeen years old. Luke has started working for Rahel Miller, but he still has a low rank in the military. He asks Claugh to join them. They acknowledge that in their own way, they have been getting revenge against the world and trying to change the country. They also concede that their competition is still going on since Emirel isn’t dead yet. Claugh immediately sets out to kill him. Ambushing the Count who is with his bodyguards, Claugh meets 10 year old Calne Kaiwel and is reunited with his old teacher Rei Stokkart. Rei, now around 23, boasts that Calne is an even better student than Claugh. Before Claugh moves to attack, Calne knocks out Rei. He then proceeds to tell Claugh that he cannot allow him to kill Count Emirel since he plans to do it. Claugh easily defeats him, and then kills the count, fulfilling his promise with his mother and Luke. Calne asks Claugh if he can go with him since he has no where to go. Both of them disappear and don’t reappear until six years have passed-during Roland’s revolution. Trivia • Claugh, Ferris Eris and Ryner Lute are the only ones who do not use any suffixes when addressing Sion Astal. • Claugh is among a number of individuals in the LofLH universe who have been experimented on. • The way Claugh’s mother tells him to get revenge is similar to Monster’s character Johan Liebert who did everything to fulfill his mother’s (Viera’s) revenge. • Although Claugh and Luke are the same age, Luke claims he’s older because of his mental age and therefore should be treated accordingly by Claugh. • Claugh thinks Luke’s jokes are stupid, although Luke comments that he knows Claugh wants to laugh. Quotes *Each quote is numbered so that conversations can be grouped together From OKYD Vol. 1 Chapter 2 “Red Steel” 1. (Claugh’s mother to young Claugh): "Ha... haha... hahaha!? Yes, that's it! You'll get revenge for me! Against that man—you'll exact revenge against that man... Got it? You're a special child. So that I would give birth to you, this was done to my body... and now I'll be killed. I'll be killed as my sin for escaping with you. It's all your fault. My life was ruined because of you. That's why you must at least live, no matter what. Live, live, keep living, and you'll... Get revenge against this rotten world..." 2. "Revenge, huh? All right. Since I still haven't found the reason of my existence, I'll make that my reason. For you, Mom, even with those useless drugs, for Mom... I mean, I understand your desire to take revenge against this damn world...Let's get revenge." 3. (Count Emirel to young Claugh)"No need to be so tense. You’re a chosen child, so I’m happy you could come. This is a strict place, but are you prepared to dedicate yourself to me and this country? Are you truly? If you become strong, then your livelihood is guaranteed. This is a privileged class here. Wouldn’t you say that it’s wonderful?" 4. (Young Luke to Young Claugh): “Because you... you're the strongest one in this room, I've chosen you. So, do you want to go along with my plan?" (Claugh’s reply): "Then, give me your orders, Luke Stokkart. Though I don't know how much power you have, it's fine. Let's hear your plan." From OKYD Vol. 2 Chapter 1 1. To young Luke: "If you die, I'm gonna laugh." 2. Arguing with Luke: "But if that's the case, then you weren't able to get rid of the fire raven until it killed all the children who could potentially be a witness. In other words, until everyone else had been killed, you had to survive. How cold-hearted. How cold-hearted to stand around while that monster killed everyone else. And so that you could be protected, it was necessary to have a single idiot as your partner." 3. Before Luke kills him: "Well, you seeee, if something like begging for my life would be shameful and no good here, would it be possible to integrate me into your escape plan?” 4. To Luke: "Why do you want to escape so badly?" 5. To Luke: "But then what should be done to grant my wish? I need to survive too. Even if it means sacrificing your life. Because I vowed to struggle, to squirm, and somehow survive, in order to kill him... to kill that idiot noble called Emirel... That's why I need to survive too. That's why I'm gonna apologize too... 6. After tricking Luke: "You don't know if it's impossible until you try, you know? Anyhow, I'm special." 7. To Luke who wants him to escape: "That's what I've been thinking about from the beginning, instead of escaping... surviving in this place, and becoming stronger until I'm finally able to get past Emirel's grown guards and kill him, you know?" 8. Meeting Luke after twelve years: "Haha~! You're as much of a blockhead as ever, aren't you? No matter how you look at it, this is gonna be my victory. The one who'll kill Emirel first is me. Then, afterwards, you'll be the one calling me big brother Claugh, huh?" 1. Claugh to Noa: “…Ah? That means, every time every time you meet danger, I will come and save you? How troublesome.” (DYD Vol. 4) {Based on Baka-Tsuki Translations} Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Marshals Category:Roland